If you are NOT young, and happening,
then this is not for you. If you don’t rate yourself as Gen-Y, then stop
reading this. If you think mice don’t have the DNA to think, then this is not
for you, either.
Feeling thirsty? Open a can of Coke…
You are not just quenching your thirst, but your subconscious is unsuspectingly
gulping calories of intentional brand promise of ‘opening happiness’.
Consciously, one would never associate
a soft drink company to the claim of refreshing the world, inspiring moments of
optimism and happiness, and creating value to make a difference. Yet, we fall
prey, and drink, often unknowingly, getting hooked on to a product or service –
the temptation is irresistible.
The reason: beneath the surface
structure of text or content, lies deeply embedded the hidden subliminal
message/s that acts as a cue to directly connect with people across cultures,
religion, and geos.
The positive association that
Coca-Cola alludes to is the universal desire of the human race for a lasting
happiness. At the core of this lies learning by association, and igniting a
habit formation, by offering messages that satiates the intuitive needs.
Remember, how B F Skinner, the great
psychologist, succeeded in ‘conditioning mice’ to press a bar in response to
the presence of a light by providing reinforce like food. This tells us how
one’s behavior could be changed by the use of reinforcement given after the
desired response.
Science has progressed a lot since
then, but the principle of conditioning increasingly holds a great promise in
motivating people, instilling positive buying behavior. This is important as
new forms of technologies are invading the minds of consumers, each moment,
creating new paradigms.
At first, computers could count.
Today, they are programmed to follow “if this, then that.” Next they will need
to discover and learn on their own, not just as a search engine, but
proactively. The Internet of Things is evolving from information portals to
interactive social and mobile channels to creating influence - shaping
attitudes and behaviors.
Self-learning robots can track human
psyche to mine and tailor ‘delicious chunks of information’ that can bait you
into eating more seductive data that satisfies your inner needs.
What is special about this is perhaps
even you yourself are not aware of these special needs that you crave for, yet
the cognitive machines do, better than you. Powered by natural language
capabilities and rich text analytics, mimicking how people think, they are
going to transform the perception industry sooner than one could think of.
Studies reveal that subliminal
messaging activates specific regions of the brain despite participants being
unaware. Operating at a level below an individual's threshold for conscious
perception, subliminal messages get well entrenched into the brain, and trigger
a positive response when you see a cue. This has a domino effect.
Certainly, the confluence of big data,
social, mobility and analytics, gives unprecedented opportunities for Chief
Marketer to think beyond the obvious, manage and manufacture consent. The data
harvested from social channels can show useful insights into a person’s
personal life; their family members, their likes, their shopping habits, cell
phone activity, loyalty cards.
So, next time you ‘like’ something on
Facebook or purchase online, just remember, you are being watched. You are
being monitored, and managed outside your conscious awareness.
Robots are on their way. Make no
mistake - the subliminal marketing is here to stay. There will be divergence of
opinions, but the idea is perhaps more significant than the reality.
The
Blogger is Kiran Kumar Yellupula.
The views expressed here are purely personal. Please share your feedback at mediavalue@yahoo.com
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